Tag Archives: American Airlines

Joint Statement from APFA National President and TWU International President

Instead of investing in its workers, American Airlines has chosen to enrich their executives with hefty compensation packages and bonuses at the cost of customer service and employee morale. They’ve saddled employees with unfair contracts and failed to address the consistently low rankings that leave AA dead last of the big three airlines for flight delays and customer complaints.

Blaming and attacking their employees and the unions that represent them will do nothing to improve American’s ranking or the future of this once great airline.

American Airlines, whose Boeing 737 MAX fleet was grounded, along with the rest of the worldwide Max fleet in the wake of two fatal crashes involving two carriers in Ethiopia and Indonesia, is committed to the planes once they are recertified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

In an exclusive interview with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt, AA Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said that “there is an absolute fix” for the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

“There’s one that we will all be comfortable with, or the aircraft won’t be recertified. And our pilots are gonna agree with that, or the aircraft won’t fly,” Parker said in his first television interview since the planes were grounded.

American Airlines’ fleet of 24 Boeing 737 MAX 8 was grounded by the FAA in March. American, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines are the only three airlines in the United States that operate the aircraft.

American has canceled all Boeing 737 MAX flights through August 19, approximately 115 flights per day.

In March, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane, crashed shortly after takeoff en route to Nairobi, killing all 157 on board, including eight Americans. Lion Air flight JT610, on a brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashed after takeoff from Jakarta last October with 189 passengers and crew.

Investigators believe both crashes were caused by an anti-stall system called MCAS.

Parker admits restoring confidence in the flying public is a challenge, even after the plane is approved to return to flight.

“Accidents like this, tragedies like this, are you know horrific,” he said. “Now in our case, we’ve always believed that, that airplane with our pilots, with our training was an airworthy aircraft. But we’re not, we’re not, it’s not for us to decide whether or not the aircraft flies. It needs to be safe for everyone.”

The FAA has invited civil aviation authorities around the world to meet Thursday to discuss the agency’s safety analysis and plan to return the Boeing 737 MAX fleet to service. Parker said his pilots are heavily involved with discussions with the FAA about required training for pilots.

Boeing says it has completed the updated MCAS software for the 737 MAX but is yet to complete a test flight with FAA pilots on board.

“It’s incredibly important to us, that we get to a point where the entire aircraft aviation community feels comfortable that this airplane is ready to get back in the air. And when it is, we’ll be flying in it,” Parker said.

“If that airplane has been certified by the FAA, and it’s being flown by American pilots or Southwest pilots or United pilots, we all will know that it’s 100 percent safe to fly,” he said.

As one of the largest airlines in the world, American Airlines and its regional partner American Eagle, offer almost 6,700 flights to 350 destinations in more than 50 countries daily. The airline says it is investing in new planes, entertainment systems and satellite Wi-Fi, available soon on all domestic flights, that will allow everyone on the aircraft to stream live television.

“Now with satellite, which has much more bandwidth, allows everyone to actually have a new level of service. Customers that experience that don’t want to go back,” Parker said. “But in general, what our customers really, really value, always have and always will, is reliability. Aircraft that are ready to go on time and that arrive at their destinations on time, allow people to make connections.”

Parker said that American Airlines will continue to make the passenger experience a top investment.

“What you’re gonna see as we move forward is us competing much more on product, than you’ve ever seen before,” he said. “We’re in an arms race basically of airlines trying to figure out what we can do for our customers.

As the busy summer travel period quickly approaches, American Airlines has announced changes to its policies regarding oversize sports and music equipment. American is eliminating oversize bag fees for common sports and music equipment, effective for travel on or after May 21. The updated policies, which will be music to the ears of musicians who fly on American, will also ensure that customers can more easily pursue active and healthy lifestyles wherever their travels may take them, without having to pay additional oversize bag fees.

Customers can check common oversize sports and music equipment as standard baggage, up to the maximum allowed dimensions and within the weight requirements. Refer to the full policy for additional information.

What you should know

Based on feedback from our customers and American team members, American is eliminating the charge for common oversize sports and music equipment — up to the maximum size we accept for these items. The change is effective for travel on or after May 21.

American will accept these oversize items as a standard checked bag without an additional oversize charge.

The checked oversize bag counts toward a customer’s normal baggage allowance. For example, customers traveling within the United States, who used to pay $150 to check one oversize item such as a surfboard, will now pay $30 — the cost of a standard first bag — if the weight is less than 50 lbs. Customers traveling with skis or a snowboard will now be able to check in an equipment bag with the skis or snowboard as one bag (up to 50 lbs./62 in.).

Due to special handling requirements, oversize items such as antlers, hang gliders, scuba tanks and kite/windsurfing items will continue to incur a flat $150 fee.

Additional allowances/restrictions may apply based on destination, class of service, elite status, active U.S. military members or AAdvantage® cardmembers (on domestic American-operated itineraries).

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Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport and American Airlines have announced plans to develop a sixth terminal, providing a long-term commitment from the airline and opportunities for businesses and customers in the fastest growing region in the United States.

The plans call for DFW to invest up to $3 to $3.5 billion in terminal improvements, including the construction of Terminal F and enhancements to Terminal C. The identified site south of Terminal D provides significant flexibility for phasing in the number of gates for Terminal F, with a long-term projection of up to 24 gates, as demand for additional facilities is warranted.

Design work for Terminal F will begin immediately. DFW and American will explore several different options for the layout of the Terminal F site. DFW and American expect the details to be finalized as part of a new airlines lease agreement for DFW that is being negotiated. DFW and American anticipate the investment to be financed by bonds and repaid through airlines rates and charges over the life of the bonds.

“Today’s announcement sets the stage for DFW Airport’s next 50 years,” said Sean Donohue, CEO of DFW Airport. “The new Terminal F and the expansion that could follow will provide the region with the growth it needs to compete with international business centers. The Airport is growing faster than ever, and it needs to keep pace with the Dallas-Fort Worth economy to provide jobs and connections for businesses and families. We’re grateful to Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and Board Chairman Bill Meadows for their leadership. I want to especially recognize American for its commitment to DFW Airport. We look forward to working together to deliver what will be an efficient, modern terminal with a state-of-the-art customer experience.”

“This is an exciting day for American and our more than 31,000 team members who call Dallas-Fort Worth home. American enjoys a wonderful relationship with the City of Fort Worth, the City of Dallas and DFW Airport, and we thank Mayor Price, Mayor Rawlings, and Sean and the entire DFW team for being such great partners. DFW is American’s largest hub and a central gateway to our extensive international and domestic network. The plans we’re announcing today will allow for the continued growth of DFW and ensure the airport remains a premier gateway for American for many more years to come.”
— Doug Parker, American Airlines Chairman and CEO

“We look forward to accommodating the continued growth of our city and the region through infrastructure improvements and expansion at DFW Airport,” said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. “We’re glad to see DFW’s anchor carrier, American Airlines, headquartered in Fort Worth, collaborate with the Airport to take this area to new heights. This new terminal will further fuel economic development and job growth in our region.”

“This is one of the most significant announcements in my eight years as mayor,” said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. “The fact that American Airlines believes in the DFW International Airport Board and management enough to make this tremendous investment in the future of the Airport is something we should all celebrate. This will further solidify DFW’s standing as one of the best international airports in the world.”

The design of Terminal F is expected to accommodate a changing aviation industry as DFW utilizes innovative technologies to facilitate the movement of customers, maintain cost efficiencies for airlines and improve operational performance.

Terminal C is one of the Airport’s original terminals and opened in 1974. DFW and American plan to significantly improve the customer experience at Terminal C, bringing it in line with Terminals A, B and E, on which renovations were completed in 2018. Those renovations included redesigned check-in areas, larger security checkpoints, expanded concessions spaces, and improved lighting and flooring.

DFW Airport welcomed a record 69 million customers in 2018, and the Airport anticipates more passengers and air service to be added in the next two years than in the past two decades. In 2018, DFW announced 28 new destinations, giving it a larger domestic footprint than any other U.S. airport. Customers also have access to more than 60 international destinations from DFW, with double the number of European destinations and frequencies since 2015.

Over the past several years, American has expanded with additional DFW service, and by June 2019, the airline will operate more than 900 daily flights from the Airport. In total, customers have access to more than 230 nonstop destinations on American from DFW.

A 2015 economic impact study indicates DFW Airport contributes more than $37 billion to the Dallas-Fort Worth economy, with nearly 60,000 jobs at the Airport and more than 228,000 jobs created across the region. In 2018, DFW Airport awarded more than $150 million in contracts to small, women- and minority-owned businesses, and concessions agreements generated more than $155 million in revenues for disadvantaged businesses.

American Airlines welcomes the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) tentative approval of additional service at Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND). American was tentatively granted authority to operate a daily flight between HND and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and a second daily flight between HND and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

“We are encouraged by the DOT’s tentative decision and look forward to operating more flights into Tokyo Haneda and beyond with our joint business partner, Japan Airlines,” said American Airlines President Robert Isom. “We understand the unique opportunity we’ve been granted with new Haneda service from our largest hub at DFW and additional service from LAX, and will deliver a world-class customer experience when flights begin next year.”

A second daily LAX–HND flight will complement American’s existing LAX–HND service, which began in 2016. The new flight from DFW will provide Japanese customers convenient connections throughout American’s vast network with more than 900 daily flights to more than 200 destinations.

American’s new DFW–HND service would be operated with a Boeing 777-200, while its second LAX–HND service would be operated with a 787-8 (top).